It’s Christmas. And whether you celebrate it or not, we’re sure you can get behind the spirit of the holiday – it’s about hope, about love, about believing in the impossible.

With that in mind, here are the “5 Things to Know for Your New Day."

1. When we pull together, wonderful things happen
Any other day, we'd talk about the partisan bickering in Washington, and how it’s at a fever pitch.

But today, let’s focus on how people with good intentions, a whole lotta heart and a can-do attitude can make a world of difference.

Take 8-year-old Laney Brown. She’ll never see Christmas again. Her doctors say leukemia will take her soon. As one of her dying wishes, she wanted some people to come by her house for a night of caroling. And boy, did they! At first it was hundreds of people, then thousands. Then it was 10,000!

2. The best presents aren’t under the Christmas tree
On this Christmas Day, about 150 Marines are standing by to fly into violence-wracked South Sudan to help evacuate Americans. Keep them in your thoughts.

But today, let's talk about military homecomings - those joyful reunions that make you reach for the box of Kleenex (or, if you're old-school, your hanky).

Take Air Force Maj. Jason Wood's middle-school daughter. She thought she was attending a pep rally when out he popped from a giant gift box.

But today, let's not be a Grinch. Not even about the commercialization of Christmas, because some of those commercials are pretty sweet.

By now, you've all seen the genius stunt by Canada's West Jet, where it asked boarding passengers for their Christmas wishes -and then delivered the gifts at baggage claim. This Apple ad also does a nice job of tugging at ye olde heartstrings. It's about a teen who spends the entire holiday season playing on his iPhone, with a aww-inducing twist at the end.

4. Family comes first – always
We write about heartbreak every day. That's because we get our hearts broken every day by stories such as that of the volunteer firefighter who responded to a fatal car crash last night - only to find the victim was his daughter.

But today, let's focus on the mother who took to Facebook to have her son’s ashes scattered so he could "see the mountains that he never got to climb, see the vast oceans that he would have loved, see tropical beaches and lands far and away" –and how strangers from India to Jamaica responded in droves.

Or on the little girl who used sign language at her Christmas concert so her deaf parents didn't miss a thing.

Or on our very own Ed Payne – a regular writer of this blog – whose daughter flew home from Tanzania to surprise the family on Christmas Eve. “I picked her up at the airport unbeknownst to Laura and Corynne. I said I was going to work, but I lied. I hope she forgives me.”

This Christmas, let’s borrow a page from John Lennon's songbook and save one wish for the world:A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over, if you want it
War is over now